Archive for the ‘Fiat Campagnola’ tag

Earlier this year, we started to hand out Under 30 awards at our cruise nights to recognize and encourage youth in the hobby who bring their cars out to Hemmings events. Almost immediately we discovered that the young enthusiasts who own and drive vintage vehicles tend to go for less run-of-the-mill collector cars that may not be in perfect shape but still come with a good story. Such was the case with Sam Richardson’s 1972 Fiat AR-59 Campagnola, which took our Under 30 award at the Saturday open car show during the recent New England Concours d’Elegance.

Sam, a 22-year-old Government Studies major at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, just up the street from where we held the New England Concours, said that he’s owned the Fiat since he was six, when his parents were both stationed with the Navy near Naples, Italy. “We found it when my parents took me to this run-down amusement park – one of those parks where you’re kind of afraid to go on the rides, they’re so rickety,” Sam said. “We were on the viking boat ride, which was right next to the edge of the amusement park, and when the boat swung up, we could see into the junkyard next door, where they had rows of these Campagnolas scheduled to be crushed.”

Sam and his father tracked down the owner of the junkyard and convinced him to sell them one of the Campagnolas for $500, then spent the next 15 years importing it to the United States and then getting it into roadworthy condition. Sam has since become an expert in the 1.9-liter Type 105B aluminum four-cylinder gasoline engine that powers the Campy, a 60hp engine also used in contemporary Fiat sedans as well as Allis and Cockshutt tractors. He’s quick to point out its major weaknesses, including the head gasket, of which he believes there are only a handful left in the world. “It can take up to a year to source parts for this,” he said. “We’re proud of it when it’s running and when it’s not, well, we don’t talk about it.”

That said, the Fiat has run well enough over the last year or so for Sam to put it on the road as his daily driver (he does have a top for it, but said visibility is awful with it on, so he leaves it off as much as possible) and to drive into our show. Congratulations, Sam!